One wonderful Christmas
by SeptimusMagistos
Summary: The story follows Jeremie and Aelita after the episode 'Distant Memory' and contains JxA fluff.
1. Starting out

_I don't own Code Lyoko._

_Also, I'm aware that this idea's been done before. But hasn't every idea been done?_

Jeremie was looking over at Aelita, a small smile playing on his lips. She looked so beautiful in her winter apparel. She wore a maroon coat and dark brown pants, large boots, and pink earmuffs. Not to mention the scarf he gave her. It was wrapped securely around her face, hiding all of it but her eyes from view. It was too bad that he couldn't see it, but he knew it well enough. He couldn't believe Aelita was actually coming home with him for the holidays.

Aelita, meanwhile, was thinking along similar lines. She had told everyone she would like some alone time, but that wasn't entirely truthful. She had just been moping. Actually, it would have been hard to spend any time at all away from all of her friends at once. Especially away from Jeremie. She found it difficult to recall a day spent without his presence. He was always there, always looking out for her, always prepared to talk to her. Aelita blushed and was suddenly grateful for the scarf that hid her face. Well, more grateful anyway. It was a really sweet present. She tried to be thoughtful too in giving Jeremie a book. What's more, it wasn't something bought with his money. She'd picked this book up at the Hermitage. It was one of her childhood favorites, and she really wanted Jeremie to have it, because she thought he would enjoy reading it quite as much as she had. Aelita looked over at her genius friend. Bundled up in his padded coat and a thick woolen hat he looked just like a giant teddy bear. Aelita had to resist the temptation to squeeze him. Not that he'd mind, of course. But he'd go terribly red and the rest of the wait would be kind of awkward. Anyway, it was really wonderful of him to invite her to spend Christmas with him. She'd have to find some way to thank him. Hm. She had heard about a plant known as mistletoe...perhaps she could experiment with its applications. She was sure Jeremie would enjoy the results. She certainly would.

Jeremie's father arrived and they got into the car. The ride was long but uneventful. After several minutes spent chatting, Aelita found that she was one of the many people who get sleepy in cars. After a while she yawned and leaned on Jeremie's shoulder. He noticed but didn't say anything. Actually this wasn't the first time she'd fallen asleep on his shoulder. There had been...incidents before. Aelita needed a lot more sleep than he did. Or at least more than he got. She was always on him to sleep more and to eat at regular intervals. It was good advice, he knew, but good health habits were a luxury he couldn't afford. But he supposed he might as well get some sleep while he could. After all, that's what a vacation is for. So he closed his eyes and soon he and Aelita were sleeping in the most clichéd pose imaginable-her head on his shoulder, his cheek resting on her pink hair.


	2. Jeremie's house

_I don't own Code Lyoko._

At some point they arrived to Jeremie's house. Jeremie's dad looked back and smiled.

"It's time to get up, you two, okay?" he asked.

The couple slowly pulled their eyes open and sat up. They exited, still a bit groggy from sleep, grabbed their baggage, and walked through the front door.

Aelita stared at the living room. It was quite nice; the house certainly looked lived-in. She appreciated the feeling of warmth it gave off somehow.

"Come on, Aelita, I'll show you my room." Jeremie declared. Aelita followed him eagerly. Jeremie said he was giving her his room. She didn't ask him to, just as she never asked him to invite her in the first place, and like she didn't ask him to work on her anti-virus, or materialization... Jeremie was always doing things for her. All without wanting any sort of a reward, without even asking for thanks. But if Aelita had her way, he'd get plenty of both.

"Thanks again for inviting me." she said, her gratitude clearly showing up in her voice.

"No need to thank me, Aelita. I wanted you to be here." Jeremie answered.

"Thank you for that too." she said.

Jeremie understood what she meant and just smiled.

"You're welcome."

Jeremie pushed open a door and held his hand out, ushering Aelita in. She smiled, took a small bow, and entered. Right away it seemed to her a wonderful place. This room was very clearly Jeremie's. The walls were painted blue, the same color as his eyes. One of the walls was decorated with three posters that combined to make a single picture, entitled "Progress of Science." It had an artistic outline of science, from the discovery of fire to quantum physics. She smiled as she saw a photo of the supercomputer tacked onto the right end, where all the modern things were. Who knew Jeremie had a sense of humor? There were two desks, one relatively clean except for some notebooks and a reading lamp, the other one overflowing with little robots, blueprints, computer parts, and all sorts of other things. A shelf full of books was hanging above the bed, which had fresh sheets on it. A soft carpet was underneath Aelita's feet and a pretty lamp was overhead. Aelita began to grin widely. She just knew that when she fell asleep in this room she would dream of Jeremie. It would be nice to take a break from her nightmares.

"Do you like it, Aelita?" questioned Jeremie.

"It's fantastic, Jeremie." she answered. "And it's just so...like you."

"Yeah, well, there was only room for some of my things in my dorm room, so I just left a lot of them here. My parents keep this room pretty much the way I left it, though I don't come home much."

"Why not?" Aelita asked.

"Well, usually I'm busy with XANA."

"Oh. Right." How could she have forgotten? Jeremie was always staying in school through the vacations. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, Aelita. It's been great to spend my vacations with you."

"But I didn't want to keep you away from your family." she said apologetically.

"It's okay, Aelita. I promise. Anyway, maybe if we're good my parents will let you stay here for other vacations too."

"But would they really want to have me around?" asked Aelita.

"Are you kidding? They're so thrilled I have friends, they probably wouldn't mind if the whole gang moved in with us for good." Jeremie assured Aelita, drawing a giggle from the girl.

"You mean you'd actually be willing to take a break every now and again?" she teased.

"Well...only if we're sure XANA won't launch an attack, of course. But basically, yeah. As long as it's with you, I'll be happy to take as many breaks as necessary."

"You mean as many as it takes to make me happy?" Aelita asked.

"As long as it keeps you safe as well, Aelita." Jeremie answered seriously.

"I can live with that." she answered. "And this is going to be a real break, right? No XANA, no Lyoko, no work, no computers?"

"Uh...I can promise no XANA, no Lyoko, and no work." Jeremie answered cautiously.

"I'll take it." Aelita chimed happily. "As long as you also promise to get plenty of rest."

"And relaxation?" asked Jeremie.

"And relaxation." answered Aelita amiably.

"Deal." Jeremie smiled.

They heard Jeremie's mother call them from downstairs. Aelita put down her suitcase and followed Jeremie out.


	3. First Day

_I don't own Code Lyoko._

Once downstairs Jeremie had to watch his parents fawning over Aelita. It was a little bit embarrassing, actually. But his parents were glad he found a friend, particularly a girl. They also had some idea of Jeremie's relationship with Aelita, though he never exactly told them the whole thing. Aelita, in turn, was very glad to meet Jeremie's parents. After all, if they raised Jeremie they _had_ to be good. After a few minutes of being bathed in their attention, everyone finally calmed down enough that they could safely start dinner.

The meal was over all too soon. Aelita really enjoyed the homemade food, so much better than what was served at Kadic's cafeteria. The conversation was fairly casual. Jeremie had had to sweat a little to help Aelita fend off some questions about her past, but his parents soon grasped that Aelita was uncomfortable with the subject and dropped it. They probably thought she didn't want to talk about it because she was an orphan, as opposed to because the truth would never be believed.

"Your parents are really nice, Jeremie." Aelita commented.

"Yeah, I really love them. And I think they love you already."

Aelita blushed. She was really glad Jeremie's parents liked her. She felt involved in every part of his life, and so everything about him was important to her, from the smallest detail of his day to his entire childhood. And his parents' approval was especially important because…well…just _because_. Aelita couldn't even define it any better to herself.

"Anyway, I thought that I'd show you the rest of the house for now."

"That sounds nice." Aelita answered.

"And then I have a surprise for you."

"Ooh, really? A surprise?" Aelita's eyes lit up. "Come on, tell me now!" she asked.

"No way. You're just going to have to wait until later." He responded.

Aelita smirked and decided to get her own way. She turned around and placed her hands on Jeremie's shoulders. He blushed heavily at this, especially when she reached up slightly and touched his cheek.

"Please?" she begged, looking at him, her green eyes large and sweet. Jeremie's heart nearly melted but he stayed strong.

"Sorry, Aelita, but you'll just have to wait and see." He responded. She pouted but then smirked and let him lead her onward.

Jeremie smiled too. The others were convinced he couldn't say no to Aelita. That wasn't true. He _could_ say no to her. Most of the time he just chose not to. After all, he loved seeing her happy, so if something meant enough to her that she actually asked him, he was only too eager to help out. But sometimes there were overriding factors. For instance, he often said no when saying yes meant jeopardizing her safety. But in this case he refused her because he knew that doing so would ultimately make her _more_ happy.

The tour of the house itself was moderately interesting. Though on the surface the rooms didn't seem like anything special, Aelita could practically feel warmth and love radiating from each one. It reminded her of the way her own house had felt back when her own mother was alive. After she died it just wasn't the same. She and her father were still happy but he was always busy and just didn't have time to work on the details that turned a house into a home.

The really interesting part, though, was when Jeremie took her outside to show her the garden behind the house. The light dusting of snow turned it into a real winter wonderland. The trees and shrubs looked like they were made of delicate white crystals. The powdered snow covered the ground with the thinnest of blankets, unmarked except for the trail of a small bird which apparently walked around for some reason, probably seeking nourishment.

"Oh. Wow." Aelita breathed out, looking out over the garden, taking it all in.

"You should see it in the summer." Jeremie smiled. That's when all the plants are alive. There are some really nice herbs growing here…and the shrubs are just full of berries. There are strawberries too, over there. And there is a plant with edible leaves, really sour ones there. And…"

As Jeremie talked, Aelita could easily picture the garden the way he described it, overlaying its current state. She smiled happily and looked over at Jeremie. He was still lost in the description, rattling off the locations of the various herbs. He got so excited, even over something as little as this. Jeremie was definitely the most passionate person she'd ever met. No matter what he did, he put his whole self into it. She loved that about him.

Aelita blushed and listened to the rest of Jeremie's description before letting him lead her back into the house. When they entered the living room Aelita was faced a surprise. A corner that was empty just twenty minutes ago now housed a small pine tree. She turned to Jeremie.

"Jeremie? Your surprise?"

"Yes, well, you see, I thought we…that is, I thought that you might like to help us decorate the Christmas tree. It's sort of a holiday tradition, you know? We thought it might help you help feel…more like a part of the family, you know?"

Aelita couldn't believe what she was hearing. Jeremie actually wanted her to feel like part of his family? She got light-headed just thinking about it. It was her dream, but… She noticed that Jeremie looked expectant. Oh, of course. He was waiting for some sort of reaction. Aelita couldn't quite control her mouth, so instead she just nodded vigorously. Jeremie brightened up and whisked her over to a large cardboard box full of paper-wrapped decorations. They spent the rest of the evening quite enjoyably, hanging the tree with tin-foil wrapped walnuts, pretty glittery balls, and candy canes and wrapping it with tinsel and lights. When they were done Aelita even got to put the angel on top. Jeremie was tempted to make some kind of reference to her resemblance to that angel, but he couldn't think of a good one in time. He had a feeling Aelita knew, though.

Before long it was time for bed. Jeremie led Aelita back to her-no, make that his-room and opened the door for her.

"I hope you're enjoying this vacation so far." He told her. Aelita looked at him and, on impulse, rushed forward to hug him. He hesitated for a split second and then returned the hug.

"Jeremie, thank you. Thank you for trying so hard to make me happy. I'm enjoying this more than I could ever tell you. It's shaping up to be one wonderful Christmas."

With that Aelita let Jeremie go, winked at him, and walked back into his room. She crawled into Jeremie's bed and soon fell asleep and dreamt about Jeremie all night long.


	4. Christmas

_I don't own Code Lyoko._

_A part of this chapter was inspired by a picture by Son-Neko on . The present idea came from F Hopper and was used with his kind permission.  
_

The next few days passed by very enjoyably. Jeremie showed Aelita all around town during the afternoons. In the evenings they played board games or watched TV. Once they saw a scary movie. Aelita wasn't really scared. After Lyoko and its monsters cardboard and Styrofoam held little fear for her, no matter what shape they were molded in. But she certainly wasn't going to pass up an excuse to bury herself in Jeremie's chest.

Another time Jeremie got out an album of his childhood pictures. Since Aelita still had trouble remembering her own childhood, he thought she might like to see more of his. Jeremie knew he was placing himself completely at Aelita's mercy. She could tease worse than Odd. She didn't poke fun at him, though. She just stared. It was strange to think of her best friend as a baby, as a helpless being only a few months old. It made her want to hold him gently. She didn't, not quite. But she blushed and thought of just how cute he was as a child, not to mention how cute he was right now.

Fun as they were, the days just flew by, and before Jeremie and Aelita knew it, Christmas had rolled around the corner. They were both very much excited about it, since this would be their first Christmas together with Aelita outside the supercomputer.

Early in the morning of Christmas Eve Day it became apparent that they weren't going anywhere, since during the night it snowed so much that most roads were closed and even the door was blocked. That was fine with the young geniuses, though, since all they wanted was to stay inside where it was nice and warm. They passed most of the day by watching Christmas specials, though close to the evening Jeremie's parents dragged up a karaoke machine and everyone got to sing some carols. It was a bit embarrassing but tons of fun.

To put an end to the evening Jeremie escorted Aelita to her room again. He did this every night. Aelita didn't really understand it; she could get around the house on her own now. Yet somehow it felt wonderful and she didn't want him to stop. Especially not on this evening. Because though most of the decorations had been put up days before, Aelita added a special one to her room just that morning.

When Jeremie was at her door and Aelita took a step into her room she glanced upward. Jeremie followed her gaze to find the mistletoe Aelita hung up on her doorframe. He instantly went scarlet. He wasn't quite sure what to think, but he liked where this was going.

Aelita was just about to take advantage of the mistletoe's powers when something made her pause. Did she really want Jeremie to think that the only reason she kissed him was because they happened to be under a stupid green plant?

After having that thought Aelita retreated deeper into her temporary abode. Turning around, she found Jeremie looking extremely confused. She grabbed his hand and tugged it, drawing him away from the doorway. She then grabbed him and kissed him.

Aelita wanted to make it clear to Jeremie that she didn't need an excuse to kiss him, that she wanted to do it just because it was him. She hugged him tightly, not because she was afraid he would escape, but because she wanted to be close to him. Aelita tried to put all her love and appreciation for Jeremie into the kiss, but it didn't seem to work because by the time it was over she had more than ever of both.

Jeremie wasn't frozen this time-quite. But he _was_ swaying a little. Aelita smiled and mouthed 'goodnight', knowing he wouldn't be up to much else this evening. Jeremie nodded stiffly and managed to walk out of the room.

By the next morning Jeremie was coherent once again. And he had a surprise of his own for Aelita. When she came downstairs, she found a brightly wrapped present with her name on it waiting for her.

"But Jeremie, you already got me a present!" she protested.

"Well, yes, but I figured you should get an extra one because you were stuck on Lyoko last year."

Aelita knew it was useless to try to resist. When Jeremie wanted to do something nice for her there was no stopping him. So she played along.

"Does that mean I should get presents for all the years the supercomputer's been shut down, too?" she asked. Then she saw the look on Jeremie's face change and realized he was actually thinking about it.

"No, Jeremie, I'm just kidding!" she assured him. "Please, don't even think about it!"

"I wasn't." he answered, but Aelita knew he was lying. She smiled and sat down to unwrap her present, revealing a brand-new laptop-a pink one.

"Jeremie, how did you…this must have cost a fortune!"

"It doesn't matter Aelita. It's about time you had your own. It might come in handy for fighting Xana, too. But mostly I just wanted you to have it."

Aelita put the laptop down and hugged Jeremie. He returned the hug, grinning. Things were going great for both of them.


	5. New Year

_I don't own Code Lyoko._

More time passed and soon it was New Year's Eve and Jeremie and Aelita were discussing the upcoming year.

"So, Jeremie, do you have any New Year's resolutions?" Aelita asked sweetly.

"As a matter of fact, I do." He answered.

"Oh?" she prompted, interested.

"Yeah. This is the year we'll beat Xana. I can feel it!" he announced brightly.

"I sure hope so." Aelita nodded. It was good to see Jeremie so hopeful. All too often he seemed to sink into despair, losing all confidence in his skills. But right then he really sounded confident in their ability to win.

"What about you?" asked Jeremie.

"What about me?"

"Do you have any resolutions for the upcoming year?"

Aelita hesitated. Her only real goal for the year was to try and get even closer to Jeremie. As much as she loved her current situation, she was after still more. She wanted to be able to kiss Jeremie in public, and maybe even to get kissed by him. She wanted to be able to tell him just how much she loved him without her face getting so hot it made her feel like her head was on fire. For that matter, the next time someone accused them of being boyfriend and girlfriend, she wanted to proudly affirm it instead of just stuttering and staring at the ground.

Aelita knew that overcoming her and Jeremie's mutual shyness wouldn't be easy. While she felt more comfortable with Jeremie than in any other situation, actually saying or doing something romantic was still difficult for her, especially if she stopped to think about it. She knew Jeremie had the same problem, only stronger. Still, at least they knew how they felt about each other. So they were better off than, for example, Ulrich and Yumi. Aelita grinned at that inwardly. Who would believe that a computer nerd and a girl who believed herself to be a computer program would get out their feelings before two confident martial artists?

Of course, it didn't help that they had to spend so much of their time fighting Xana. But of course if Jeremie was right and they actually managed to get rid of Xana, they would have plenty of time for working on their relationship-and for enjoying the benefits of that work.

But of course she couldn't tell any of that to Jeremie.

"I…um…I…"

"Yes?" Jeremie prompted gently.

"I guess I'll make beating Xana my resolution too." She said, blushing slightly.

Jeremie wasn't sure what that was all about, but he didn't really care. He felt too happy. In fact, he felt like saying something nice to Aelita, just because.

"You know, I still can't believe how lucky I am to have you in my life. I mean, I never thought I could be…uh…friends…with someone-someone like you." He stammered out.

"Why not?" Aelita asked.

"Well, I'm a nerd, for one thing." Jeremie pointed out.

"Why, because you get straight As and like computers? So do I. Does that make me a nerd too?" Aelita asked playfully.

"No, of course not. I didn't mean..."

"Forget it. I know I'm a nerd. So what? And you're more than that. I prefer to think of you as a genius."

"I'm not that much of a genius." Complained Jeremie, thinking of all the times he's failed.

"You forget, I worked on the same codes you have. I couldn't figure them out, even when I had essentially infinite memory and could work from inside the computer. But you did. Since I'm pretty smart, that must mean you're a genius. And if you try to deny it again, I'll take it as an insult of my intelligence."

Jeremie saw the trap she set up for him. He had to accept her assessment now, even in his own thoughts, or else he'd feel like he was being unkind to her.

"I'm still lucky, though." He huffed.

"Oh, no, Jeremie. I'm the lucky one." Aelita answered. "If I hadn't come into your life, you would at most be dealing with loneliness. But if you hadn't come into my life, I'd still be trapped inside the Supercomputer and if it ever got turned back on, Xana would probably just take over the world. So you see, everyone is lucky that you found me."

Jeremie blushed again and decided to stop this for now, since whatever he had to say to Aelita, she would find a way to turn it back on him tenfold.

For the rest of the night they just casually chatted about other things and had fun. They even held a contest to see who could stay up the longest. For the longest time it was uncertain who would be the victor. Though Jeremie had more experience with staying up all night, he wasn't used to doing it without a computer screen to capture his attention. Staring at Aelita just wasn't the same-she made him feel relaxed and restful. After a while Aelita grew tired of waiting and decided to use a trick. She started softly humming a lullaby. It worked its charm. Jeremie did fall asleep. Unfortunately for Aelita, the tune was so soothing she couldn't help but collapse too. By the time Jeremie's mother came to check up on them their limbs were tightly coiled around each other, so Aelita couldn't be moved. So she satisfied herself by covering them with a nice warm blanket.

When Jeremie woke up the first thing he noticed was Aelita's face. It was so close to his that their cheeks were actually touching. He considered pulling away, but found this to be impossible. He and Aelita were entwined so closely that even wriggling would probably wake her up. He didn't want that. So he closed his eyes and tried to move as little as possible.

Soon afterward Aelita woke up as well. What she saw was Jeremie, his eyes closed, looking very peaceful. She cracked the merest of smiles but didn't move or even breathe too hard. She certainly wasn't about to disturb him. Jeremie got way too little sleep anyway, he didn't need her taking any more from him. She just closed her eyes.

After a while of things going on like this, Jeremie and Aelita finally caught each other with their eyes open. They both looked very happy.

"Good morning, Aelita." Jeremie greeted her.

"Good morning, Jeremie." She answered.

"I guess we should get up, huh?" he asked.

"I don't think so." She answered. She was still only half-awake, which made her a little bolder than usual. "I'm still a little sleepy."

"Oh, well, then, I…uh…" Jeremie just wasn't sure how to respond. Aelita moved somewhat so that she was now on top of Jeremie, pinning him to the couch. She hugged him even tighter and placed her hand on his chest.

"Shh. Just stay soft and warm, ok?" she asked.

"O…K." answered Jeremie, blushing madly.

One thing they both knew was that this year was definitely off to a great start.


	6. The End

_I don't own Code Lyoko._

They say that all good things come to an end. The Laws of Thermodynamics seem to support this, what with entropy and whatnot. In any case, it certainly proved true for the Christmas break, as its days ran out and it was time to return to the school life.

Aelita reluctantly left Jeremie's room, knowing that her own dorm back at Kadic would never make her feel this good, but resolving to one day live in a room which had something in it that would remind her of Jeremie even more-Jeremie himself. Someday. But for now they drove back to Kadic, laden with not only their luggage, but also a little something extra-a package of treats for each of them to hold them through the school's rough fare.

After taking a moment to drop off their stuff in their respective rooms, Jeremie and Aelita met up again. Ulrich and Odd wouldn't be back until the next day, but they would be meeting with Yumi a bit later. But for now they just wanted to savor the remains of their time alone, just as someone may savor the feel of the pillow in the time between waking up and getting up.

"Well, I guess the vacation is really over now." Aelita mused. "It's back to our regular routine."

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Aelita." Jeremie apologized for some reason. "There is nothing I'd love more than to…to spend more time with you, like we were. But until Xana's gone we just can't afford to. We have to concentrate on beating him."

Aelita closed her eyes, impatient with his attitude. Honestly, Jeremie acted like everything in the world was his fault. He seemed to expect himself to be able to fix all the world's ills in the course of an afternoon, and so he blamed himself whenever anything went wrong.

"Jeremie, it's okay!" she assured him. "It's not your fault that we have to work, and besides, I _like_ working with you; you know that!"

Jeremie nodded. He learned that firmly enough after Aelita's first techno concert. Convinced she wasn't having fun working with him, Jeremie came by Aelita's room to assure her she would never have to do so again. Her reaction was definitely not what he expected. Aelita nearly burst into tears, convinced that she upset Jeremie so badly he was 'firing' her. Of course it turned out that Jeremie completely misunderstood the source of Aelita's frustration. She did not mind helping him in the least.

"But there's just one more thing I have to do before we can go completely back to normal." Jeremie said.

"Oh? What's that?" the girl asked, curious.

"Look up." Jeremie ordered.

Aelita obeyed, glancing upward. What could be there that Jeremie would want to show her? The correct answer turned out to be 'nothing.' It was merely a distraction. As Aelita was gazing at the sky, she felt an unexpected warmth on her lips. The realization hit her with a flood of pure joy: Jeremie was kissing her!

Aelita tried to throw her arms around Jeremie, but her muscles felt unexpectedly stiff and reluctant to respond. This was probably what Jeremie felt like. All too soon Jeremie pulled away, blushing furiously and grinning like a loon.

Aelita let her elation escape her chest in a short peal of happy laughter and grasped Jeremie's hand, bearing him away. The best summer vacation ever had a truly fitting end.


End file.
